Bucket system 'barbaric': Mchunu

Johannesburg - KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu has highlighted farm dwellers and shack dwellers as communities needing special attention, adding they have not enjoyed the fruits of democracy.

Delivering the state of the province address at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday, Mchunu said the living conditions for these communities, especially water supply, electricity, and sanitation were inhumane.

“Our view is that these communities still live in modern day feudalism with little or no rights, including the right to a decent burial in a cemetery or any similar place,” said Mchunu of people living on commercial farms.

Turning to shack dwellers, Mchunu promised that an audit would be conducted to determine the number of slums in the province.

Part of the reason for the existence of shacks and slums, Mchunu said, was the sale of RDP houses by some people.

“We want to conduct an audit on the ownership of RDP houses with a view to do away with the sale and renting out of these houses and any other form of fraud and corruption in RDP houses.”

He stressed the need for each municipality in the province to develop a plan for slum-elimination with clear timeframes.

While government had done a lot in the provision of water and sanitation, the bucket system remained one of the problems to be faced by the next administration.

“We view the bucket system of sanitation as degrading and indecent, almost barbaric, and they must be eradicated as a matter of urgency”, said Mchunu.

He stressed that under the ANC leadership the province had done well, especially in the area of good governance.

Achievements included three clean audits and nine unqualified audits out of 16 provincial departments for the 2012/2013 financial year.

Seven-hundred-and-forty-four convictions were secured in 1024 cases of fraud and corruption from April 2010 to March 2011.

“There is a steady decline over the period of three years of fraudulent incidents reported in the province as a result of pro-active and re-active interventions made by the office of the premier, together with the provincial treasury's internal audit unit,” he said.

The debate on the address will take place in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature on Thursday.